


The Puppet Show

by Dieren



Category: The Lion Guard (Cartoon), The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Inspired by Zootopia (2016), Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27301165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dieren/pseuds/Dieren
Summary: Can a puppet show change your life? A short little oneshot about how Kiara met Kovu, retold in the Zootopiaverse.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	The Puppet Show

"Are you sure you don't wanna chaperone? You could call your work and say you're sick," Kiara leaned forward in the backseat. "Mrs. Patterson says we always need more parent volunteers, I'm sure she'd let you come, you don't need a permission slip or anything since you're a parent."

"You don't want me following you around on your field trip," Simba glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Just have fun, and when I get home I want to hear all about it, deal?"

"Okay," she sat back, "I just feel bad that everyone in the family gets to go but you."

"Tell you what, if you have so much fun at the puppet theater that you want to go again, I'll take you and you can make sure I get the full experience, alright?"

"Really?"

"Mhmm."

"Kion, you wanna come too?" She turned to her brother, who was deep in a book.

"Nah."

"You sure? It's really cool, I hear."

"I'm just not that into puppets," Kion muttered, turning a page. "I'll probably stay home sick when my class goes, honestly, I don't want to spend a whole day at the old theater watching a puppet show."

"Calling in sick two years in advance," Simba remarked. "I think that's a new record there, pal."

"What can I say?" Kion closed the book as Simba parked alongside the curb, "I like to set the bar high."

"Uh huh. Alright, have a good day guys, love you."

"Love you!" Kiara planted a big kiss on her father's cheek before jumping out of the car and running towards the school.

"You too," Kion shouldered his backpack and walked slowly behind his sister, who was already halfway there.

Simba smiled to himself, watching his children make their way, each in their own style, toward the school building, the very same one he had and Nala had attended when they were young. He vaguely remembered being Kion's age, and hearing about the fifth grade puppet show field trip. His life had changed before he'd had the opportunity to go. One of the teachers herding the children inside recognized him, and waved reassuringly. He nodded and gave a small wave back, but continued to sit until he watched the door close behind Kion, and felt sure that both children where safely where they needed to be. In the afternoon, Nala would pick them up. They were safe, he reminded himself. There was no reason to worry. After signaling, he pulled back into traffic, and his day continued.

* * *

"Whooooa," Kiara breathed as they walked inside the musty building. The décor resembled a movie theater, with slightly stained red carpeting, dusty black ceiling tiles and dark wall paneling.

"Smells like nail polish and stale bread," Tiifu sniffed.

"Eww, it does."

"Wait, we're sharing the theater?" Zuri wrinkled her nose as another group of students was herded in by a few staff members. "I thought it was just our school."

"Public school kids," their canine classmate Collette observed under her breath. "Fun."

"I wonder what school they're from," Kiara wondered aloud.

"One of the downtown ones, by the look of it," Collette's sister Annette shrugged. "Keep your phones close."

"How can you tell?" Kiara asked.

"Hand-me-down clothes, no designer brands, a few knock-offs," Collette listed smoothly. "Urban aesthetic graphic print tees, to name another."

"So they're from downtown," Kiara shrugged. "So what?"

"So nothing," the cocker-spaniel mix shrugged. "Just stating the facts as I see them."

"Uh huh."

"Come on, let's sit in the back and talk," Tiifu tugged Kiara's arm and led her to one of the back rows. The seats were cold, almost damp.

"I think the ceiling is leaking on my chair," Kiara patted the cushion and squinted at the ceiling.

"Shh," just sit on my other side," Zuri whispered as the lights dimmed and one of the puppet house workers began to address the students. "So, whose house are we going to watch the season finale at?"

"Mine, probably," Tiifu whispered back. They all smiled innocently as their teacher walked past them, eyeing them silently. When she turned around and began to walk away, Tiifu spoke again. "I just have to ask my parents."

"Cool," Zuri nodded. "Hey, do you think Kodi likes me?"

"Totally," Tiifu smiled. Kiara found her gaze wandering over to the other class, the ones who might or might not be from downtown. Her eyes drifted over the silhouettes of ears, some long and some not, some furry and some smooth, until she noted a small tuft and recognized another lion. He was dark, which she noted was very uncommon. The male cub was slouched in his seat, so only the tops of his ears and tuft were visible.

A bright spotlight on stage grabbed her attention, as a performer in a black suit began to maneuver a large, brightly colored dragon marionette puppet around state as lilting flute notes played on the faint speakers, telling a story of ancient times and magic. This normally would have enchanted Kiara, but she glanced again at the back on the other cub's head, determined to talk to him after the show was over before each school got on their respective busses. She didn't know what she wanted to say, only that she wanted to talk to him.

Then, the cub crouched forward, and slunk out of his chair. She got a glimpse of his face as he darted past, undetected by his teacher. He had the most charming green eyes.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Kiara whispered to her friends as she stood carefully, seeing that their teacher was seated in the front row, only glancing back at the class occasionally.

"I'll tell Mrs. Patterson and go with you," Tiifu offered.

"No, I'm just gonna sneak out real quick," Kiara countered, backing away.

"Alright," Tiifu shrugged, turning back to Zuri. Kiara felt a slight thrill in sneaking away from the group, her back now against the wall of the theater, her paw carefully nudging the swing door open and darting through as the other cub had done. She found herself in the dim hall, suddenly aware that she didn't know where he had gone, or what she would say if she found him. It only then occurred to her that he might actually be going to the restroom, and that it would be incredibly weird to follow him if this was the case.

Then, she heard the quiet creak of a door being slowly cracked open just around the corner. The sound was distinctly of one trying to make as little noise as possible. That had to be him, she reasoned. No adult would be sneaking through the building like that. She tiptoed towards the sound, finding herself standing before a maintenance closet.

"Psst," She cracked the closet door open. "Hello?" She heard the sound of equipment clattering, almost as if she'd startled whoever was inside, causing them to jump and bump against a shelf. "I'm sorry!" She cringed. "Can I come in?"

"In or out!" The cub demanded. "We're gonna get caught if you just stand there like that, move!"

"Sorry!" She quickly slipped inside, where it was almost totally dark. Her eyes began to adjust, but slowly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The cub scowled. "Get lost looking for the bathroom?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," she admitted.

"Wait, you followed me?" He was baffled, and a little annoyed. _"Why?"_

"You seem cool," she admitted. "I don't know, I wanted to know what you were doing."

"For your information," he scoffed, "I'm looking for the haunted puppet."

"There's a haunted puppet?"

"Pssh, like you don't know."

"No, really," she prodded, "tell me, I wanna know, that sounds cool."

"Well," he put his paws in his pockets, leaning against the shelf. She was now able to make out his face. Angular, but also soft. His eyes were bright and kind. "My sister went to this thing last year and she told me about how they keep a puppet here that's so cursed it makes you go insane if you look at it. They keep it locked up here somewhere, but where nobody will think to look for it. She said it doesn't look like a puppet, but I'll know it when I see it. She says that the volunteers here are part of a cult and never leave, they sleep in the rafters like bats. The puppet makes them."

"She's seen it?"

"No, but she's insane anyway," he turned, rummaging through boxes of hand soap pump refills and floor cleaner bottles. "But I think it's real."

"And you wanna look at it and go insane?"

"Yeah, it'd be wicked awesome."

"You wanna be insane?"

"Look," he glared at her, "if you don't want to look at a cursed puppet and go insane, there's the door, literally right where you're standing. Think you can find it without your GPS app?"

"Yeah, but I'm not leaving until we find it."

"Really?" He seemed surprised. "You wanna find it, too?"

"Yeah!" She crouched beside him, looking in a box of old mop heads. "You think this could be its hair? And the face is under here?"

"Nah, too obvious."

"Well, where do you think it is if it's not here?"

"I bet this place has a basement," the cub perked up.

"You think?"

"Sure, a lot of the old buildings around here do. I bet that's where they keep all their blood chalices and shit."

"Yeah," Kiara nodded, still not entirely sure how invested in this puppet cult lore she was. It sounded impossible and ill-advised at best. However, she did know that she wanted to continue to befriend this cub, so she was committed to engaging as much as possible. "Where do you think it is? Like where the entrance, is, I mean."

"I'm not sure," the cub sat on his heels and tapped his chin. He was dressed plainly, his jacket smelling slightly like cigarettes, and his shoes were very worn. "Probably around here somewhere, near the front of the building, with the stairs leading to the back."

"That sounds right," she agreed. She had no idea if that sounded right.

"Come on," he led the way out of the closet, and down the hall. She followed, glancing over her shoulder to ensure they weren't being followed. "Scared you'll get caught?" He teased.

"More like worried my friends will come looking for me and tell on me."

"Friends don't rat."

"It's not ratting if they're worried."

"No, that's still ratting. That's why I don't have friends, nobody can rat on me if nobody knows what I'm up to."

"Well that sounds lonely."

"I'm just not a herd animal. In ancient times, males were usually rogues, their families would kick the men out once they got their manes in, and they'd spend their lives hunting and traveling. It's in my blood to be a loner."

"Lions are social creatures," Kiara countered gently. "All mammals are, but especially us."

"Nah, that's just you girls. Us males? We don't need all that."

"If you say so," she shrugged, realizing that if this cub was serious about not wanting any socializing, he would have chased her off by now. Instead, he had quickly folded her into his plan. It was exciting, she thought. Being on a little secret adventure with a strange cub while everyone she knew went about their day unaware that she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

"Check this out," he grinned, glancing back at her as they came across a door labeled 'Stage Props.' "I bet there's some cool shit in here."

"Ooh," she tried to react with interest, but not too much. She did want to see what was in that room, but she was also beginning to feel an acute awareness that every minute spent away from her class increased the likelihood of being discovered missing. If she was missing long enough, her teacher would text her mother after she was found, and her mother would tell her father. She could already hear the lecture and anticipate the grounding. Her parents weren't strict, necessarily, but her father in particular was insistent that his children be where they were expected to be. Wandering away from guardians was not tolerated.

She brushed this concern aside, rationalizing that if her absence were discovered, her friends would insist that she had only gone to the restroom, and she would at most get a light admonishing to ask permission next time, nothing that warranted sending word to her parents. After all, it wasn't as if anyone would come looking for them.

He opened the door and slid in, holding the door open for her as well.

"Oh, neat!" He grinned. She smiled at his glee before turning her attention to what surrounded them. The walls were lined with plywood scenery pieces leaned against each other. Castles, mountains, storefronts, there were at least a dozen different set pieces. Behind them, boxes and boxes all messily stacked to the ceiling. Each bore a different label, some scratched out and renamed. 'Winter,' 'Castle,' 'Saloon.' "Check it out," he pulled a box open and drew a puppet out. "It's you."

"Ha ha," she put her paw on her hip. The puppet had a tall pink cone crown and fluffy dress. "Princess puppet."

"'Oh gee,'" he bounced the puppet, making it talk in a high-pitched voice. "I sure hope we don't get in trouble, or my daddy will take away my diamond earrings!'"

"My ears aren't even pierced, stupid," she scoffed, rooting around in the dark for a comeback. "Oh," she grinned wickedly, "I found you." She pulled an old, ugly shriveled-looking witch fox puppet from a box. "You two could be twins."

"Screw you," the cub shoved the princess puppet back in the box and wandered around the room. "You think it's in here?"

"I don't know," Kiara admitted, putting the old witch puppet back. "Maybe."

"Siiiiiiiiick," the cub had found a box of stage weapons. "Look, I'm committing suicide. Blah!" He pressed the shiny blade to his chest, and Kiara could hear the click as the blade retracted into the handle, making it look like it had entered his flesh. "Blegh, blood everywhere!"

"That's neat, stab my arm," she held it out for him.

"I'd be happy to stab you," he chuckled as he raised it above their heads and dramatically pressed down. Kiara noted that he slowed as he neared her, and was slightly more hesitant. He was being careful, she realized. "There, I stabbed you. You dead yet?"

"Very."

"There's probably more in here," he moved toward a box labeled 'Shakespeare.' She leaned in as he opened it. Inside lay the bloody severed head of a lion, its eyes bloodshot and rolled back. Kiara gasped as her eyes bugged out of her head. The other cub jerked back.

"Oh," she whispered as her eyes wandered down what...would have been the neck, to where all the red fleshy bits were. They were distinctly rubbery, and there was no scent of blood or death. "It's a doll's head. For a play."

"Pssh. Yeah." Her strange friend grasped the false head by the top of its mane and lifted it up. It looked even more gruesomely realistic in this fashion. "Maybe this is what my sister was talking about."

"It's...enough to make me want to run screaming," Kiara admitted.

"You practically did," the cub snorted, laying the head carefully back where it belonged. "I thought you were gonna scream like in a horror movie. Just all like 'aaaah!'"

"You jumped pretty bad too," she elbowed him. "Don't act like you didn't."

"Whatever. I'm thirsty, think there's a drinking fountain around this dump?"

"Probably," Kiara stood. "Hey, at least we found something, right?"

"Yeah, it wasn't a total waste, I guess," he shrugged, opening the door just far enough that it didn't hit her as she passed after him. "You're alright for a private school brat."

"I prefer Kiara, but I'll answer to either," she answered primly. "And you?"

"Public school miscreant, graffitier of dicks. Or just Kovu."

"Nice to meet you, Kovu," she smiled. "Do you, um, have a pho-"

"Kovu!" A gorilla appeared down the hallway. "Why did you leave the group without permission?"

"I was just trying to help him find the bathroom," Kiara answered politely.

"I wasn't talking to you, he knows better!" The teacher snapped. Kiara was dumbfounded, having never been so harshly dismissed by a teacher in her life. "Let's go! You too, little missy!"

"Yes ma'am," they both replied in a defeated monotone.

"We'll talk after," Kiara whispered.

"No talking, back to your seats!"

They never did talk after. By the time the puppet show was over and the two groups ushered back towards the busses, Kovu was gone. Kiara tried to fall behind so she could look for him, but Zuri pulled her aboard the bus.

"Come _on,"_ Zuri goaded. "We almost got in trouble because you left."

"Sorry," Kiara sighed, realizing that her little adventure with the strange cub was truly over.

* * *

"So," Nala smiled as Kiara glumly climbed into the car, "how was your field trip?"

"It was good." She buckled her seatbelt next to Kion.

"Just good?"

"Finally realize that puppets aren't that great?" Kion snorted.

"Kion," Nala shot him a look. Kion silently returned to his book.

"It was fun," Kiara answered in a slightly more convincing tone as she realized that there was no way to explain her day without admitting that she'd broken the rules, something that her friends and evidently her teacher did not fully realize. Her little escapade with Kovu would have to remain a secret, one she shared with someone she might never see again.

"Tell us about it," Nala began to drive.

"Um," Kiara looked out at the passing buildings and slim trees, "it was fun, the play was about dragons. They used those big string and stick puppets."

"Marionettes?"

"Mhmm, those."

"When I was your age, it was some sort of anti-smoking play, I don't even remember what the puppets were supposed to be."

"An anti-smoking dragon play would have been funny," Kion commented without looking up. It was always difficult to tell when he was or wasn't paying attention.

"I'm not sure how effective the message would have been," Nala mused.

"But you would have remembered," Kion pointed out.

"That is true."

"I mean it worked, didn't it?" Kiara asked. "You've never smoked."

"That is also true."

"And Dad didn't see the play and he _did_ smoke," Kion chuckled. "He should have seen the play."

"I can't fault that logic," Nala shrugged. "So, Kiara, you had fun?"

"I did," Kiara nodded.

"Good. Make sure to tell your father how it was, I'm sure he'd love to hear about it when he gets home."

"I don't want to spoil it for him, he said he was going to take me if I wanted to go again."

"You want to go again?" Nala seemed slightly surprised.

"Is that okay?"

"Of course, it just didn't sound like you loved it so much you'd want to go again."

"I do, I like doing stuff with Dad, it'd be fun to see it with him." Kiara did actually want to see the full play, the beginning had seemed very promising, and she also enjoyed going places with her father, which wasn't something she was able to do all that often.

"I'm sure he'd love to do that with you."

* * *

"How was the kiddie show?" Vitani glanced at him as he stepped inside their apartment. He was greeted by the scent of stale cigarette smoke and Dateline's theme music.

"It was," Kovu glanced in the kitchen, and saw his mother sitting at the table, scrolling on her phone. "It was lame," he answered stiffly, shutting the door.

"It always is," Vitani turned her attention back to the television.

"Why weren't you at school?"

"I didn't want to be at a kiddie show."

"Sixth graders didn't have a field trip, just fifth graders."

"I didn't want to be with the sixth graders, either."

"I didn't sign a permission slip," Zira glared at him from the table. "I'm not paying a cent towards that shit."

"There wasn't one," Kovu lied. Vitani's penmanship had negated the need for his mother's signature. "It was free." This, at least, was true.

"Those damn things are never free," Zira turned back to her phone. "Waste of my tax dollars, sending kids all over the city but won't fix the damn roads. Here," she held out a crumpled twenty dollar bill. "We need something for dinner, and I want _all_ of the change back this time. Receipt, too."

"Yes ma'am," he took the money and shoved in into his pocket, dropping his backpack behind the couch.

"'Sup, termite," Nuka appeared holding a soda can, bopping Kovu upside the head as he walked past.

"Loser," Kovu muttered as he walked back out the door. Across the hallway, he heard the muffled sound of rock music blaring inside one of the other apartments. He quickly made his way down the stairwell, the clatter of his sneakers against the metal steps echoing in the bare space. When he reached the ground floor he bounded back out into the sunlight, making his way down the street towards the Buck Mart at the corner. He made a subtle sweeping motion with his paw, pretending he was a jedi using the Force to open the sliding doors. The fluorescent lighting flickered overhead as he made a beeline for the frozen dinner section. _"Hooooot pockeeeeets,"_ he sang the jingle under his breath as he skidded to a stop and opened the aisle freezer door.

* * *

"Kiara tells me you're going to take her to the theater to see some puppets," Nala remarked as she took a sip of wine.

"Absolutely," Simba stood, taking his plate and hers. "I look forward to it."

"That play might change your life, Dad," Kion snickered. "Mom says she say an anti-smoking play and she never smoked, and you didn't see it and you did, so we're preeeeetty sure we're on to something here."

"I would love to be indoctrinated," Simba rinsed his and Nala's plates in the sink as Kion grabbed his plate. "Better late than never, right?"

"Kiara's life is changed by the dragon play, she just doesn't know it yet," Kion predicted as he rinsed his plate and set it in the dishwasher.

"Think that's true, Princess?" Simba asked as he sat back down. "You think the dragon play changed your life?"

"No," she poked her food, still feeling a touch bittersweet over the whole ordeal. "I don't think so."

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note,
> 
> "I liiiiiiiiive!" - Mushu 
> 
> I wanted to write something short and sweet in time for Halloween, hugs to each and every one of you <3
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> \- Dieren


End file.
